


Pyrophobia - Phan

by orphan_account



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), youtube - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Death, Fire, Gen, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Harry Potter - Freeform, Hogwarts, I Can't Write Angst, M/M, Phanfiction, Present Tense, Sad and Happy, Shipping, YouTube, wattpad, why do I make my children go through this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 17,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9522014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's Phil Lester's final year at Hogwarts and he wants to make it the best yet. When he finds a new ghost named Dan Howell, he forgets about all his other goals and unravels the mystery of Dan's death.Prompt from phanfic on tumblr- Harry Potter au where Dan is the ghost in the bathroom and he befriends Phil, a student at Hogwarts. Phil can't help but wonder what Dan's cause of the death was, but Dan won't tell him and will always disappear when he asks about it. So Phil tries to figure it out by himself but what he finds may disturb him...(Fic started on 01.09.16 and published on AO3 on 30.01.17)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pyrophobia was originally published on Wattpad so if you'd rather read it there, my username is strangerphans.

For centuries every single student in Slytherin house has been a pureblood. Until Dan Howell came along. No halfbloods or 'mudbloods' are allowed in the the rich green and shimmering silver common room unless they want to be jinxed. When the ancient, singing Sorting Hat bellowed "SLYTHERIN" when placed upon the boy's head only the Hufflepuffs clapped encouragingly. Ravenclaw kids shook their heads, pitying the poor first year while the Gryffindors laughed loudly at the horrified look on every Slytherin student's face. Twelve year old Dan Howell didn't understand why all his house members grumbled under their breath when he slowly shuffled past or why the head boy and girl went to Professor McGonnagal, claiming that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake.

Over the years Dan has grown used to the boys he shares his dorm with ignoring him and making plans to go to Hogsmeade without him. Every year when new, pureblood first years arrive in the Slytherin common room they ask the head boy or girl about Dan and they reply with something along the lines of, "The stupid old hat made a mistake and placed a mudblood in our house. I'm surprised he even can perform magic because he looks exactly like a mangy Squib." Dan likes to think that they only say he's rubbish at magic because he learned how to create a patronus in his second year, while a few fifth years struggled and groaned. Even though his parents are muggles, he definitely has a gift when it comes to magic.

Now Dan's in fifth year and is certain that this year will be better than the past ones. He has his new books, repaired wand (a few of his peers snapped it when Dan tried to ask them about their Herbology homework last year) and a bit of confidence. Since the new term started Dan's been doing his best to stay out of everyone's way, in hope that they'd forget that he's not pureblooded for once and maybe even the boys his age would invite him to Hogsmeade.

Students from all over Britain gather in the Great Hall to feast on the magnificent food prepared for them by willing House Elves and to watch the first years be sorted into their houses. Remembering his horrific sorting experience, Dan frowns and tries to find something to take his mind of the embarrassing memory. His caramel brown eyes scale the bustling hall full of chatting children and silent teachers. Nothing seems too out of place this year. Eventually, the newly erected headmistress, Professor McGonnagall, leads a large, shivering group of eleven and twelve year olds. A few of them look confident and wave at older brothers and sisters while some simply gaze at the floating candles and rows of students in awe like Dan had.

Every year Dan likes to keep a count of how many new members each house gets. So far Gryffindor has a whopping total of fourteen, Ravenclaw has it's usual number of nine, Hufflepuff has a smiling bunch of six and Slytherin falls shortly behind its rival with twelve.

By the end of the ceremony, there are no halfbloods or people with nonmagical backgrounds in Slytherin, making Dan frown. However, that frown is soon replaced with a giant grin when the world famous food is served. Immediately he grabs some pumpkin juice and and slides a slice of pie onto his squeaky clean plate.

The night is filled with laughter for everyone apart from Dan.

Later on, around one o'clock in the morning, when Dan is back in the cosy common room and about to slip up to his dorm to get into his cotton pyjamas, someone has the brilliant idea to throw a party. Most of the responsible students laugh and pad up to their dorms while the younger ones stay, knowing that Thomas Threadnig, Slytherin's head boy, has a crate full of bottles of Fire Whiskey ready to break open. Dan only stays in hope that it would earn him some respect. In previous years, he's been known for going to bed extra early so he had time to finish homework in the morning while the common room was empty and no one could magically launch scrunched up pieces of parchment at his head or dump pots of ink onto his work.

By three o'clock, everyone apart from Dan is extremely drunk and casting weird and wonderful spells left and right.

"Impedimenta!" Someone yells, causing a fourth year to freeze on the spot.

"Aguamenti!" A girl giggles.

"Expecto patronum!" As soon as the words leave the student's mouth, everyone copies and soon brilliant blue, ghostly animals are dancing around the air along with one boy whizzing around of a broomstick.

Suddenly, Dan has an idea. Why doesn't he cast a patronus? He doesn't like to brag but his patronus is pretty amazing and maybe he can impress everyone with it! Slowly, Dan pulls his wand out from the inside pocket of his midnight black robes and raised it.

Dan closes his tired eyes and tries to block out the sounds of his peers bragging about their corporeal patronuses. To cast the patronus charm, you need to concentrate on a happy memory so he thought back to the moment he found his Hogwarts letter in the mail many years ago. At first he and his parents were confused but soon rejoiced and celebrated with tea and cakes. To this day, it's still remains the greatest moment of Dan's life because it changed everything for him. He might not have any friends at Hogwarts but he loves to learn and aims so become as great as Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

"Expecto patronum." Dan quietly whispers. A great, tall grizzly bear is whooshed out of the tip of his dark wand and bounds higher than any other patronus. At that exact moment, Thomas Threadnig casts his own patronus and scowls in embarrassment. His measly dog was nothing compared to Dan's grand, silver protecter. When Dan sees the look is his green eyes, he knows he is in for it.

As the dog and bear gracefully prance around the room, Threadnig growls animalistically and points his twisted wand at Dan. Gleefully, some people continue to laugh at Threadnig for not being as great as the muggleborn but only a few understand that he is going to go after Dan.

"You think you're better than me, Howell? You're just a disgusting mudblood!" Threadnig snarls, "Levicorpus!" Immediately Dan rises into the air by his ankle and nearly drops his wand.

"Liberacorpus." Dan whispers, making him fall back down onto the smooth rug. After quickly wiping his robes, Dan takes one last look at furious Threadnig and dashes up to the dorms. The older boy is right behind him.

"Finite Incantatem!" He yelled, making poor Dan unable to cast any spells. The only thing he can do now is run around until he finds a broom and fly out the window. The first place Dan goes is his down dorm because he knows his four roommates all have the newest broomsticks. Groaning, he pushes the heavy door open and scans the room in search for a room. In the hurry, Dan forgets to close the door and Threadnig finds him rummaging through one boy's trunk for a broom. Smiling smugly, he closes the door with a bang and watches as Dan flinches and slowly looks up. Pointed at him is Threadnig's wand.

"Burn in Azkaban, mudblood. Incendio!" He laughs before a jet of orange flames fly out at Dan, causing him to be set alight.

He screams and writhes in pain and desperately tries to stand and find his wand. Unfortunatly, it has rolled under a bed and he can't reach it. Dan's robes burn and his skin melts making him scream and cry. He has reached his end and he hasn't even made a single friend at Hogwarts. Dan can already see the welcoming arms of death so he stops struggling and closes his eyes for one last time. Like another person, he doesn't want to die and is terrified of the thought. Dan knows that he has lost this battle.


	2. Chapter 2

One year later...

Phil Lester is the happiest person at Hogwarts. He's one of those people who don't even need a reason to smile and always help the new kids who have no idea where they're going get around the school. Phil doesn't like to say that he's popular but everyone loves him. The Slytherins respect him because he's a pureblood, the Gryffindor's admire his friendliness and joy, the Ravenclaws know he's intelligent and his fellow Hufflepuffs love his bubbly personality. Everything is perfect for Phil and the fact that it's already his last year at Hogwarts is very worrying. The years have whizzed by and he can't be bothered to go out and find a job. He's always liked the idea of working with muggles but he's not to certain if that's the path he wants to go down.

After saying a quick hello to all the new Hufflepuffs after the sorting ceremony, Phil dashes up to his dorm and begins to unpack his books and odd, muggle gadgets he bought in France. His new broomstick is placed under his four poster bed and his trunk goes into the wardrobe. Now that's done, he can go back downstairs to the common room.

A group of amazed first years are crowed around the fireplace where the Fat Frier, Hufflepuff's ghost, is telling them all the castle's secrets. Fondly, Phil smiles and remembers being told that they were right by the kitchen and could sneak out for a snack in the middle of the night. Luckily, he has never been caught out after the curfew. The Fat Frier laughs merrily and begins to talk about his fellow ghosts. 

"So we have The Bloody Barron, Sir Nicholas, The Grey Lady, Peaves and me. Though, I think I saw someone new floating around the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He looked fairly young, maybe Phil's age or something." He lists loudly. Silently, the group turn to face the raven haired boy. Nervously, Phil smiles and waves.

"How was your holiday, mister Lester?" The Fat Frier asks thoughtfully. Enthusiastically, Phil nods.

"It was fantastic. Sorry for listening in but I couldn't help but to hear that you've spotted a new ghost." He starts, hoping to spark a conversation. The boy has managed to speak to all the Hogwarts ghosts and would love to talk to the newest. It's his final year at Hogwarts so he wants to tick everything off his to do list. 

"Ah yes, the new ghost. I was just going to visit the Bloody Baron in the Slytherin common room and this kid was sitting on the steps up to the boys' dormitories. The poor lad looked dreadfully sad for a someone his age...though I suppose he's allowed to be sad because he's dead. Looking to have a chat with him, Philip?" The Fat Frier asks with a chuckle. Enthusiastically, Phil nods and thanks him. Just as he's about to head out of the common room to the dungeons, the ghost stops him. 

"I wouldn't go out right now, it's getting late and apparently the new caretaker doesn't like students out after hours. Same with you lot." He advises before shooing the first years up to their dorms. Silently, Phil goes up to his own dorm and smiles at his four peers. 

"Had a good summer?" One of the boys asks as he goes through his battered, old trunk with vigour. 

"Oh yes, it was fantastic. What about you, Colin?" For around half an hour, the two pals converse about their exciting holidays before everyone settles down in their huge, comfortable beds. 

Phil knows that this year will be just as great as the others. 

 

By lunch the next morning, most people are complaining. Nearly all the Gryffindors and Slytherins stayed up parting, leaving them in a bad mood for the first day or term and the feeling of boredom and tiredness spread to everyone else. Except from Phil. He is just as joyful as usual. 

"I'm just glad that there wasn't a repeat of last year." One of Phil's best friends sighs as she sits down next to him at the Hufflepuff table. The girl, Natasha, is in Ravenclaw but doesn't usually sit there. Curiously, Phil looks up at her and puts down his knife and fork.

"What happened last year?" He asks. Phil doesn't like to get involved with drama so stays far away from fights and parties. 

"Not many people outside of know Slytherin know this but apparently there was a huge duel going on between these two boys at a party last year. One of them were chased away and never seen again. Some people say that he was killed and others think he was just transfigured into a random object or something." Natasha explains with many animated expressions. 

"Nah, I bet everyone just got really drunk from Fire Whiskey and imagined the whole thing. If there was a duel, everyone would know about it." Phil laughs, waving a pale hand dismissively. The witch shrugs and digs into a plate of triangular, ham and cheese sandwiches. 

"Maybe. Anyway, did you hear that Madam Pomfrey's leaving?" Natasha begins excitedly.


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks later when Phil finally has no homework, he decides to sneak down to the Slytherin common room. It's quite a trek away from Hufflepuff hideout but the raven haired boy doesn't mind at all. He loves wandering through the ancient castle and looking for new secret passages to explore. 

Phil isn't exactly too sure if he'll be allowed in. The Slytherins don't mind him but he's a Hufflepuff. They might push him away from the dungeons. Frowning slightly, Phil shakes his head of those thoughts and continues to navigate through the school. Fortunately, the stairs aren't moving too much today and he makes it to the bottom level in only seven minutes. A flight of cobblestone, mossy stairs lead down to the busy common room. Warm, flaming torches line the walls and the only painting is at the very end of long corridor. Nervously, Phil approaches the portrait of a wise looking wizard and coughs loudly. The wizard looks up at him and frowns in disgust. 

"Password?" He asks curtly and with his pointy nose stuck up in the air. 

"Erm, well, I don't exactly know the password but I was hoping you-" Phil is cut off by a laugh. Quickly, he spins around and sets his sky blue eyes on a popular Slytherin girl named Andrea. He's saw her a few times in the library and heard that she's excellent at brewing potions. 

"Lester? What's a weak little Hufflepuff like you doing down here?" She rudely says while cackling. Phil hates it when people think that Hufflepuffs are weak and stupid but still tries to remain friendly. 

"Oh hello, Andrea. How are you today?" He asks with a polite smile. The girl shrugs shortly. 

"Eh, not bad. Now, what do you want?" She spits. Anxiously, Phil runs his pale fingers through his midnight black side fringe. 

"I heard that there was a new ghost hanging around here and I was wondering if I could come into your common room to, y'know, talk to him." He quietly confesses. Annoyed, Andrea groans and shakes her head. 

"Oh, that old thing. I wouldn't waste you're time. All he does is sit on the stairs to his old dorm and groan." She complains. "I'll get him out for you in a minute. Maybe he won't come back." Silently, she strides over to the portrait. 

"The password is 'Moodbloods are gross'." The painting flings open and Andrea disappears behind it. Patiently, Phil bounces up and down in anticipation and frowns when he hears Andrea yell. 

"Get out and don't come back!" She shrieks before the portrait opens again and a blue, floating boy appears.


	4. Chapter 4

Phil has saw many ghosts while in Hogwarts but never has he saw one look so miserable. The first thing you see when looking at him is definitely his face. Like the rest of his floating body, it's almost transparent and his mouth looks like it's melted down into a sad frown. It looks terrible and almost frightening. The ghost boy's hair is snow white with a few speckles of dark grey in it and swept into a messy side fringe. His eyes were a lifeless grey and were focused on the ground. Phil didn't expect the ghost to look so young.

"Hello, my name's Phil!" He cheerfully introduced himself. The boy's eyes eyes snap up to meet him and they stare at each other. Phil didn't think he would be so shocked at someone making conversation with him when he went over his plan the night before.

"And you are?" He asks slowly. Shyly, the Slytherin twiddles his thumbs. 

"I'm Dan Howell. You don't need to talk to me, Phil. I'm dead so I'm not important." Dan says, getting straight to the point. Annoyed, he rubs the melting bits of his mouth as if they hurt from talking. 

"Oh don't say that. C'mon, I've not got much time tonight and I want to get to know you." Phil protests. "Do you want to come to the Great Hall with me and chat?" For a moment, Dan thinks and finally sighs. He mumbles about not having anything better to do and the Hufflepuff smiles triumphantly. The two silently turn and began to walk (or float in Dan's case) down the hall. But after only going a few metres, the ghost freezes in his tracks. 

"I've changed my mind." He announces to his new acquaintance. Confused, Phil stops and stares at him. They literally only made it to the first torch. 

"What? Why?" He asks sadly. Frowning, Dan turns around and crosses his arms. 

"N-no reason. Now, I recommend you leave before Professor Slughorn comes and gives you a detention for being down here." He says emotionlessly. 

"But you said you didn't have anything better to do! At least give me a reason." Phil whines. Sadly, Dan sighs and runs his skeletal fingers through his white hair. Then he turns back around and glances at the torches. The tall flames are a a bright orange and sway from side to side. To Phil they look quite funny. 

"It's kind of stupid, though." Dan mutters before looking back at the raven haired boy with his big, sad eyes. Friendlily, Phil smiles and urges him to go on. 

"Well, oh gosh this is embarrassing, erm... I really don't like fire and, y'know,there and torches all over Hogwarts." The ghost admits quietly. It's almost inaudible and Phil only just manages to hear him. 

"Oh, that's alright, Dan. We're all scared of something." He assures Dan. Simply, Phil strolls over to the nearest torch, pulls out his wand and casts an extinguishing charm. While Dan stays pressed up against one of the cold, stone walls in fear, Phil continues to do this with every torch in the hall. Finally the whole corridor is dark and only Dan's body emmets light. Quietly, Phil laughs, thinking that Dan's kind of like this crazy muggle object called a Glow Stick. 

"Coming?" He says with a smile. Grumbling under his breath, Dan floats over to Phil and they set off. 

When they reach the Great Hall, Phil smiles at all the people already sitting there. Dan does the exact opposite and hunches up his shoulders with a sigh. Silently, the pair sit down on one of the Hufflepuff benches and Phil begins to interrogate his new friend. 

"So, what's your blood status?" He curiously starts off with. Tiredly, Dan groans. He knew this question would pop up. 

"I'm a filthy mudblood." He answers through gritted teeth. Shocked, Phil gasps and his ocean blue eyes widen in shock. 

"Don't say that! I hate it when people say that. Muggleborns should have the same rights as purebloods." He replies quietly. Luckily, he has been raised to think that muggleborns are no less than wizards and witches with pure blood. 

"But I'm a Slytherin and we aren't supposed to have muggle origins at all. I may be dead but I'm still a disappointment to the house." Dan sadly speaks, his dull eyes trained on the ground. Sighing, Phil shakes his head. 

"How about we move onto a happier subject, yeah?" He asks and a conversation about that galaxy begins. 

It turns out that Phil is a brilliant Divination student and is even welcomed into the Forbidden Forest by the centaurs. Passionately, he talks about Herboligy and Dan listens to him contently. He has to admit, the Hufflepuff's voice is calming and pleasant to listen to. 

"How about we meet again? Maybe at the Astronomy Tower next Tuesday." Phil suggests once it starts to become dark outside and people begin to drift back up to their dorms. For a moment, Dan thinks and then slowly nods his head. 

"At half five? No one goes up their after then so it'll be quiet." He exclaims with a hint of excitement in his voice. He quite likes Phil already. He's a nice person with a big heart and Dan admires that. 

"Sounds like a plan. Want me to take you back to your common room?" Phil offers thoughtfully. He isn't sure if there will be any more torches for Dan to worry about. 

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks for asking, though." He says politely. Quietly, Phil stands up and smiles. 

"I'd better go back to my dorm. It's been lovely talking to you, Dan. Goodnight." He exclaims before waving and dashing to the kitchens for a quick hot chocolate before bed. 

Dan stays on the bench all night, thinking about his death and other odd things that come to his mind. But his thoughts are mostly centred on Phil and why he took an interest in him.


	5. Chapter 5

With his hands placed delicately on his lap, Dan sits patiently on one of the wooden benches in the Astronomy Tower. Phil was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago and he's beginning to feel like the older boy didn't even want to be his friend and just thought it would be funny to see the silly little mudblood think somebody actually liked him. Just as he sighs and stands up, a messy haired, wheezing wizard runs up the winding stair case.

Phil stands there for a while, leaning on the banister to try and regaining some of his breath. He had got stuck with his Muggle Studies and totally forgot to meet Dan.

"Dan? Are you still here?" He calls out suddenly and nearly falls down the stairs when the ghost suddenly appears in front of him. Dan's brown eyebrows are crossed in annoyance and he looks quite betrayed.

"I was just about to leave. I've been sitting up here in the cold for ages." He mumbles quietly. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. Just say it to my face and don't leave my in the cold." Phil's heart sinks and his frowns sadly.

"I'm sorry. I was struggling with my muggle studies homework and I lost track of time. I really do want to be your friend and I'm really sorry about you being up here all on your own." He apologises sincerely and watches as Dan smiles slightly.

"It's alright, I forgive you. But could we go down to your common room or something and I could help you with your homework? Is it strange that I miss the constant stress of trying to get work done?" He requests. 

"How did you get it done so quickly?" Phil asks with a gasp as Dan shoves four parchments about Muggle Parliament into his hands. Cheerfully, the ghost laughs and shakes his head.

"I have muggle parents, remember?" He reminds him. The blue eyed wizard nods and stuffs the parchment into his bag.

The Hufflepuff common room isn't to crowded and Dan likes that. A few girls are sitting on one of the couches and are conversing quietly about a new sweet that Honeydukes has started selling and a tiny first year is watering the large, green plants in the corner with a muggle watering can. Dan and Phil decided to sit down a distance away from the warm, roaring fire and even brought a few honey coloured cushions with them. Dan likes them because the remind him of his favourite childhood friend, Winnie The Pooh.

"Do your parents know about you being, uh, dead and stuff?" Phil quietly questions the Slytherin. Sadly, he nods his head.

"Yeah, I sent them a letter after it happened just saying about how it happened and how I won't be able to leave the school to see them." He whispers sorrowfully. Carefully, Phil tries to place his cold hand on the boy's shoulder and shrieks as it goes right through his blue body. Dan recoils and he makes a face of disgust.

"Ew, that felt gross. Ugh." Dan shivers as the Hufflepuff laughs happily. After his laughing fit, Phil fixes his midnight black fringe and smiles at his friend.

"You're face when my hand went through you was hilarious." He chuckles and Dan hugs one of the pillows.

"Well you wouldn't like it if someone plunged their hand into you!" He defensively shot back before playfully sticking his tongue back. Pretending to be offended, Phil places a hand over his chest and gasps.

"Oh what bad manners! Sticking tongues out at your superiors shall not be tolerated in this school!" He teases in a extremely posh voice. Just as Dan's about to point out that he's technically in the same year as him, something catches his eye.

The four girls who were previously talking about Honeydukes are now casting weird and wonderful spells. One Ravenclaw brunette makes paper birds fly out from her pure black wand and another is making all the talking portraits stop and start moving. The girl that catches Dan's eye is the Slytherin with bright red hair. She's incredibly concentrated and looks as if she's trying to remember something important.

"Hey guys, this one's every Slytherin's favourite spell." She exclaiming giddily before saying the dreaded words. Dan's chocolate brown eye's widen and Phil frowns worriedly.

"Incendio!" The young witch yells before a giant orange flame erupts from the tip of her wand.

Fear evident in his eyes, Dan squeaks and disappears from the common room completely. When he opens his eyes, he's back up in the Astronomy Tower. Confused, he stares at his almost see through hands in shock before crashing to the ground. A loud sob escapes his mouth. It's followed by many more.

Meanwhile, Phil is also confused. One minute Dan was absolutely fine and the next it looked like he was facing his worst fear. For a few minutes, he searches the common room and kitchens for his friend but doesn't find any clues to his whereabouts. Sighing, Phil trudges back up to his dorm with his completed Muggle Studies and strides over to his small but brilliant Tawny Owl.

"Up to a late night adventure?" Phil asks it curiously before sitting down at one of the wooden desks with a fresh piece of parchment and a writing quill.

Dear Dan,

Why did you disappear? I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't even know that ghosts could disappear like that.

If you want to, meet me outside the kitchens on Friday night and we can get some hot chocolate. The house elves are brilliant at making it and love to meet new people.

I hope my owl manages to find you!

Your friend,

Phil

He makes sure that his handwriting is perfect and neat because he thinks Dan deserves nice letters. Phil even manages to make a fancy, blood red seal on the envelope. Smiling, he strides back to his owl and it takes the letter in its small mouth.

"I have no idea where he is but this letter is for Dan Howell. Good luck finding him." He sighs before his pet flies out of the open window and high into the night sky.


	6. Chapter 6

This time it's Phil's turn to sit and wait nervously for his friend. He still feels bad about the Astronomy Tower incident and isn't even sure if Dan will show up outside the kitchens. It's been a long week and all Phil wants to do is talk with him over some hot chocolate.

"Ah!" Phil yelps as Dan suddenly pops up in front of him. Anxiously, the ghost scratches the back of his neck and backs away.

"Sorry about that, I'm still trying to get the hang of apparition. I've only just figured out how to do it." Dan apologises quietly. Meanwhile Phil is totally amazed. Ghost apparition seems to be much different to normal wizarding apparition.

"That's fantastic! You figured out how to apparate without a teacher? Brilliant!" He exclaims with a bright, friendly grin. Bashfully, Dan blushes. He spent the last few days trying to master ghost apparition and discovered that he can even become invisible.

"So, would you care to join me for some hot chocolate?" Phil asks in a silly, gentleman-like voice. Excitedly, Dan nods and watches as Phil confidently strides over to a big, colourful painting of a fruit bowl. Just as he's about to ask what on earth he's doing, the older boy reaches into the frame and tickles the green pear. Loudly, it howls with laughter before turning into a doorknob of the same colour. Proudly, Phil turns on one heel to Dan and says, "ta da!"

"How on earth did you figure that out?" Dan chuckles.

"With the help of a very special map." Phil replies mysteriously before opening the portraits and revealing the hall which leads to the bright kitchens. He lets Dan float through before him and quickly explains that he extinguished all the torches so it was kind of dark.

"Mr Lester, mr Lester!" Several squeaky house elves cry out before running over the the Hufflepuff and hugging his long legs. Laughing, Phil pats their shoulders and crouches down to their hight.

"Hello friends! Thank you for breakfast, it was lovely." He thanks them and Dan watches as a significantly tall elf grins proudly and puffs his little chest out.

"This is my friend, Dan. We were wondering if you could make us some hot chocolate and we can stay down here for a while. Is that alright?" Phil requests slowly. Fervently, they all nod and the tall house elf steps forward.

"It would be our pleasure, mr Lester and mr Dan." He says with a low bow. Chatting loudly, the house elves get to work and Phil leads Dan over to the back corner where a stack of brightly coloured pillows lay. The majority of them are ripped and feathers are falling out but they can still serve their purpose.

"These are all the old pillows from the common rooms." Phil explains, dragging a buttercup yellow pillow out for himself.

"So Professor Longbottom could've sat on this one?" Dan asks curiously as he flops down on a big, Gryffindor red pillow. Phil nods and sits closer to him.

"I'm really sorry about last Tuesday, I didn't know you hated bad impressions so much." Phil whispers so none of the busy house elves will hear. For a moment Dan stays unmoving and confused but soon realisation washes over him and he shakes his head and attempts to smile.

"Oh Phil, you didn't do anything wrong. I just saw something quite frightening." He explains inaudibly. He shivers from the memory but is snapped out of it by two house elves. They each have a big, glass mug of warm hot chocolate with cream and pink and white marshmallows. The drinks look absolutely delicious.

"One hot chocolate for mr Lester..." The first one mumbles before handing his to Phil. The boy thanks him with a gracious grin and a pat on the back.

"And one for mr Dan." The next house elf says and passes the final mug to Dan.

"Thank you." He tries to smile before taking it into his blue hands. The house elves giggle before scurrying away.

"Everyone in Slytherin always said that house elves were awful and disobedient but they're really nice and sweet." Dan whispers to his friend who nods and takes a sip of his hot chocolate.

"And they're brilliant chefs. These are absolutely amazing!" He exclaims. Carefully, Dan raises the huge mug to his baby blue lips and attempts to pour some of the drink down his throat. Since he's a ghost, it goes right through him and lands on the velvet pillow, staining it forever.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Dan gasps before placing the mug down on the cold, stone floor. Tears pool in his grey eyes and he raises his hands to cover his mouth and the melted bits of his cheeks.

"Dan, it's alright. Don't worry, these cushions are old so it's okay. Oh don't cry." Phil assures him. He pulls out his wand and casts a spell to clean up the spilled hot chocolate. Dan continues to quietly whimper and weep on the ground until Phil places a pale hand next to his own.

"I'd hold your hand right now but we both know that it wouldn't work." He mutters with a soft, king smile. Hesitantly, Dan looks into his ocean blue eyes and sighs.

"I hate being dead. I can't drink hot chocolate with you, I can't hold your hand and I can't do magic anymore." He blubbers while attempting to dry his wet cheeks.

"I wish you were alive, too. I really wish I could hug you right now. " Phil whispers disappointedly. The two boys sit on the kitchen floor together with their hands almost touching and their eye contact never breaking for a while before Professor McGonagal enters the kitchen. Like usual, her silvery grey hair is tied back into a tight, neat bun and her emerald green robes reach past her feet.

"Lester, what are you doing down here at this time? Wait, Howell? Is that you?" She asks worriedly. The teacher rushes over and kneels down next to they two boys. Carefully, she examines Dan.

"Howell, come with me please." McGonagal eventually says. Immediately the ghost stands and sighs. Phil also stands and turns to his teacher.

"Miss, it's my fault that we're here, not Dan's. I suggested we come here for some hot chocolate-"

"Do you really think I'd give a dead student detention for being in the kitchens, Philip? He's dead and that's an issue we must discuss." McGonagal interrupts him sharply. Shaking her head, she exits the kitchen but Dan stays behind.

"Come to my common room after you talk to McGonagal?" Phil asks hopefully. The Slytherin nods, says goodbye and quickly floats after the headteacher.

 

"P-Phil?" Dan stutters as he floats into the dark Hufflepuff common room. It's around one on the morning now so no one's around apart from Phil. He's been patiently sitting by the fire for an hour just to speak to Dan again.

"Hey, are you alright?" The raven haired asks anxiously and stands up. Dan floats towards him and shakes his head sorrowfully.

"I'm cold and and I'm tired and I'm in serious trouble and I'm dead." He whispers with his head held low in shame. Pitifully, Phil reaches his arms out for a hug before remembering that he can't do that and letting them fall awkwardly.

"Ghosts need sleep, right?" He checks quietly. Confused, Dan nods.

"Wanna come up to my dorm? It's warm, it's clean and doesn't have any fires." Phil suggests. Dan bites his blue lip before nodding reluctantly and following his friend up a set of winding stairs.

Phil's right, the dorm room is cosy and everyone is asleep. Even Colin's noisy cat that never stops meowing is silently staring at the full moon wistfully. Carefully knitted yellow and black striped scarves are draped around and textbooks and school supplies are left lying around on the floor. By the window is big, soft armchair with a fluffy, purple blanket laid over the back. Dan thinks it looks quite comfortable but the beds look much nicer.

"Goodnight, Dan. We can talk in the morning about what Professor McGonagal said." Phil simply says before grabbing his blue and white striped pyjamas from his four poster bed and slipping them on. Instead of leaving Dan with the armchair, he curls up on it and covers his body with the blanket. Confused, Dan floats around for a while just wondering if he's to take the older boy's bed. The more he moves around, the colder he gets so he eventually just decides to slip his robes off and climb in.

Phil's bed is warm and much softer than Dan's old one. Seriously, Dan isn't sure if he's actually resting on a cloud or not, it's that soft. He wraps his whole body with the warm duvet and envelopes the pillow in his blue arms.

For the first time, Dan sleeps peacefully.


	7. Chapter 7

When Dan wakes up, the dorm is completely empty. Not even Phil has waited for him. Sighing, he pushes the duvet off and pulls on his slightly burnt robes. Dan spent a few minutes making Phil's bed before floating down the winding, stone staircase to the common room. 

As suspected, no one is there either. Dan looks at the ancient cu-cu clock and realises why everyone is gone. 

"It's half ten so Phil must be in one of his classes." He whispers to himself. Dan doesn't feel as betrayed now and decides to leave and sit down in the great hall. 

He's always admired Hogwarts for it's beauty and now that he's able to wander around it all alone makes it seem even better. There's no pupils running down a corridor to find their lost toad, no teachers blabbering about all the detentions they've given out and no cheesy couples snogging behind any of the stone pillars. Dan's able to see all the people in the paintings talk and dance and even spot a house elf or two running around with a feather duster. While making his way down to the great hall, Dan practices becoming invisible for a few seconds at at time and confuses all the portrait people by doing so. It's quite uncommon for a ghost to have to ability to become invisible. Dan laughs just by thinking about all the things he could get up to while invisible. 

Silently, he pushes open the huge doors to the great hall with a quiet creak. Unlike Dan thought, there are two teachers sitting on the Gryffindor bench and in the middle of a very important conversation. Professor McGonagal has her old biscuit tin out and Professor Slughorn (the potions master and head of Slytherin house) has scoffed a large amount of the treats. Shortbread crumbs litter the old, oak wood table. 

"The potion would be incredibly hard to brew, Minerva. The materials needed are quite dangerous and very expensive. Is it really worth it?" Slughorn asks quietly. Frowning, Dan silently becomes invisible and floats closer to the teachers. 

"He's one of your own students, Horace, of course he's worth it! His parents are devastated and I miss my star pupil!" McGonagal strictly says with a frown. At this point, Dan is completely lost and is only listening because he's bored. 

"We still need to find out what happened to the poor boy. You talked to him last night, didn't you? Did he tell you anything about his de-" Slughorn is cut off by a loud cackle from above. All three look up to the enchanted ceiling and McGonagal sighs at the sight of Peeves, Hogwart's cheeky Poltergeist. 

"Someone's listening in to your conversation, professors." He announces with a wide grin. Nervously, Dan takes a sharp in air and dashes behind a pillar. 

"Really, Peeves?" McGonagal asks, her eyes darting around the room, "All students should be in class." The Poltergeist giggles and does a flip in the air. His tatty, grey flat cap nearly flies of his head in the process. 

"Maybe the spy isn't a student, then!" He howls before whizzing out the great hall, determined to cause more confusion in the castle. 

"Is anyone actually there?" Slughorn whispers to his colleague as Dan peeks his head around the corner. He knows he's completely invisible but he's still cautious. 

"I don't think so, Peeves was probably just winding us up. Anyway, we can continue this discussion later, Horace, I have a class to teach." The transfiguration teacher tells him before swiftly standing up and exiting the great hall. Quickly, Slughorn runs after her but rushes back for the biscuit tin. 

When they're gone, Dan makes himself visible again and sighs. The longer he stays like that, the lighter his head becomes. Invisibility is a brilliant thing but it does hurt quite a bit. 

Dan sits at the Hufflepuff table until break rolls around and girls and boys stroll in to snack on toast, breadsticks and other tasty treats. Hopefully, he waits for Phil until a third year tells him to 'get lost'. Sighing, Dan floats up and balances himself on one of the wooden beams on the supporting the ceiling. He stays there for a while, positive that his friend will appear. 

Down below, Thomas Threadnig is chatting with his fellow Slytherins. He's still incredibly proud for murdering Dan and is incredibly pleased that no one outside of Slytherin knows it was him who casted the unforgivable curse. While his friends attempt to throw triangular sandwiches at first year Gryffindors with their wands, Threadnig is scanning the hall for someone new to bully and torment. He likes to find fresh meat every week. 

"Ha, did you see that one's face? This is hilarious! Come on Threadnig, give it a go!" Arthur Bones cries out but doesn't get his friend's attention. Something has caught Threadnig's eye. Or rather, someone. Dan is sitting all alone and is completely distracted- he's perfect for target practice. 

Messily, Threadnig grabs a handful of salad from a bowl and throws it at Dan. The ghost nearly falls off the beam when it flies straight through him and pulls a face of disgust. It feels dreadful. The bully grabs another handful and chucks it at him again and again. Soon his friends join in and Dan is desperately trying to dodge the flying food. Before he died, he was terrified of Threadnig which all the Slyhterins found hilarious but now he has a reason to become so shivery when he sets eyes on the bully.

He leaves his nest up in the beams and flies over to the teachers' chairs. Rapidly, Dan jumps behind Professor Filtwiks's tiny chair and curls up in a tight ball. 

One of Threadnig's pals snatches a half unpeeled banana from a second year's hand and randomly flings it in Dan's direction. Unfortunately, he completely misses and the fruit heads in Professor McGonagal's way. Just as it's about to hit her head, she pulls out here wand and casts a charm to slow down the flying banana. Carefully, she takes it in her hand and places it on the table before bellowing, "THREADNIG, BONES, ABOTT AND SMITH, MY OFFICE NOW!" 

McGonagal marches down to them and drags them out of the great hall by their ears while Dan tries to catch his breath. 

 

Meanwhile, Phil is already in Professor McGonagal's office, but not for disruptive behaviour. He's been granted special permission to talk to the late Hogwarts Headteacher, Severus Snape, in his portrait.

Earlier in the morning, Phil had talked to McGonagal about Dan and how he'd like to help him. They discussed ways make the ghost a bit more alive and there only option was to brew a special potion which could temporarily bring Dan back to life. It would only be for a few days but that's all they need to lift the boy's spirits. 

"Finally, the most important ingredient for the potion is the thing that killed the ghost. For example, if Howell drowned we'd need to add water to the potion. What killed your friend, mr Lester?" Snape asks in his low voice. Nervously, Phil bites his lip and scratches the back of his neck. 

"That's probably the biggest problem we're going to have, professor. I don't have a clue how Dan died and I have a feeling he won't want to talk about it. He gets upset easily, you see, so asking him such a big question could trigger something. I don't want to make him even sadder but I think I'd be fun to keep this whole thing a surprise." Phil explains. Snape sighs and pushes some of his greasy, black hair out of his cold eyes. 

"Then there's only one way we can figure out how he died. We try everything possible and see what scares him the most." He says.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh there you are!" Phil pants tiredly when he finally finds Dan up in the owlery. He's spent the last fifteen minutes running around the school in search of the shy ghost. Professor Sprout gave him special permission to try to find out more about Dan in the afternoon so he's missing a lot of lessons. The teachers understand the situation and have been informed about the plan to help Dan. 

"Where were you earlier today?" Dan sniffles as he waves his hands around his head. Several smaller birds haven't stopped trying to peck all the lettuce and breadcrumbs out of his hair and he honestly can't be bothered to pick them out. Even though most of the food thrown at him went straight through his body, some stayed in his hair. 

"Oh, I, uh, had a chat with Professor Sprout about what I'll be doing after school. Are you alright, what's wrong with your hair?" Phil asks, desperate to change the subject. He hates lying and not telling the truth to his best friend makes him feel like scum. 

Dan sighs and pulls a few crumbs out of his hair. 

"There was an incident at break. Thomas Threadnig started throwing food at me. I've always hated him." He answers with a scowl. Frowning, Phil walks over to him and sits down on the bench below the window sill where he's resting. 

"I'm sorry I wasn't there, that sounds awful." He says before pulling his schoolbag onto his lap and brings out a packet or freshly baked cookies. "But guess who has cookies? I do! And we can share them!" Excitedly, Phil rips the packet open and hands a chocolate chip one up to Dan. The boy opens his mouth to much on the treat but then slowly closes it. Sadly, he passes the cookie back down to Phil.

"They look delicious but I, y'know, can't eat anything. I guess the birds can have it." Dan whimpers with another sniffle. Frowning, Phil tosses the cookie to a group of owls and they all race towards it. 

Next in his bag is a flask of warm soup but they can't share that either. Phil settles it at his feet and rummages through his bag again. Down at the very bottom is something very interesting. Phil had honestly forgotten about the little thing. 

"Hey, Dan? Wanna see something cool?" He asks with a smile. Curiously, Dan nods and peers over Phil's shoulder. Rapidly, he turns around, exclaims "Boom!" and shoves his hands into Dan's face. Trotting around them is a wispy, blue lion. It reminds Dan of a mini patronus. 

"Look how cute it is! Professor Potter made a little patronus for all his students a few weeks ago as a 'good luck with your exams later on in the year' gift!" Phil exclaims excitedly as the tiny lion roars squeakily and paws his thumb curiously.

"That's...quite amazing, actually." Dan whispers. Phil looks up into his eyes and notices that they're full of tears. He doesn't like it when people cry. He especially doesn't like it when Dan cries. 

"If you stop crying you can hold it. Little lion and I don't want you to be sad." Phil says in a silly voice, making the ghost giggle slightly and wipe his face. Dan blinks until his eyes aren't watery anymore. 

"Come on, hold your hands out." Phil encourages him. Enthusiastically, the boy puts his hands out and laughs when the lion pounces onto his cupped hands. It begins to try to gnaw on the ghost's thumb and tilts its head to the side in confusion when he goes right through him. 

"How did Professor Potter create it?" Dan whispers in awe. 

"I suppose he used some really cool magic...or maybe even muggle stuff!" Phil theorises creatively. Slowly, Dan shakes his head and continues to examine the mini patronus. 

"No muggle would ever be able to do this. The most exciting thing they have is the internet." He explains before holding a finger out to stroke the lion's messy mane. It accepts and seems to enjoy the affection and is soon rolling around like a kitten. 

"I'm not even ask what this 'internet' thing is. Sounds complicated." Phil chuckles before rubbing the lion's belly softly. Dan laughs quietly and continues to coo over the little lion. 

Originally, Phil's goal was to ask Dan about things that frightened him after he got the boy in a good mood but seeing him so happy and interested in something warmed his heart. He can't crush Dan's happiness now but he has to. The sooner he figures out how he died, the sooner the special potion can be brewed. 

"Hey, Dan, I was meaning to ask you-" Unfortunately, Phil is cut off when a grand, well groomed eagle gracefully soars into the owlery. It lands on Phil's shoulder and he notices that it has a letter clasped in its beak. The majestic bird causes an idea to blossom in his mind. A very important idea.

"Woah, did you replace your owl or something?" Dan asks curiously. The little lion attempts to claw at the bird's fine, brown feathers as Phil takes the letter and opens it carefully. 

"Dear Mr Philip Lester, 

You are required at a staff meeting tonight in Professor McGonagall's office. Since it will take place after dark, you have permission to be out of bed while everyone else is in bed. 

Yours sincerely, 

Professor Pomona Sprout."

Phil is barely able to make out the teacher's messy handwriting but luckily Dan is able to decipher it. His own writing is particularly scratchy. 

"Why are you needed at a staff meeting? Is everything alright, Phil?" He anxiously asks after putting the mini patronus back into his friend's bag.

"Yeah, I'm fine. They're probably just giving me an award for being the best student ever." Phil teases with a loud laugh. Rolling his eyes, Dan huffs and crosses his arms over his chest. 

"Or maybe they're expelling you." He retorts playfully. He knows that no sane headteacher would expel someone as perfect as Phil. They'd have to be absolutely crazy.

Laughing, Phil sends the eagle back to his head of house and puts his nearly forgotten flask of soup back into his bag. He makes sure not to crush his little lion and closes the bag. 

"I'd better get going, I have a lot of homework to do." Phil lies. He's actually just added to his very good idea to help figure out how Dan died. But he'll need help from a very well known Slytherin. Phil's never actually spoken to her but he knows that she can help with his plan if he pays her right. 

"Oh, okay. If you need any help with your muggle studies stuff, I'll be up here." Dan quietly says. Honestly, he's quite disappointed that Phil has to go but education is very important in the wizarding world. 

"I will. See you later!" Phil exclaims before running down the spiralling stairs with his bag over his shoulder. 

Noticing that the sun is nearly setting, he sprints faster. Phil needs to find the mysterious Slytherin girl fast. There are rumours that she retires to the Room Of Requirement often but he doesn't know how long she stays there for. Fortunately, the wall which transforms into the magical hideaway is not to far from the owlery and he only has to run through four quiet hallways. 

Once Phil reaches the tall, stone wall where the entrance to the Room Of Requirement can appear, he straightens his back and fixes his midnight black fringe. Then he begins to think. 

"I need help from someone who does favours for those in need and doesn't fail to get the job done. Please, I need to talk to her quickly." He pleads in his head. For a few seconds, everything is silents but then the grey bricks start to move, creating a noisy scraping noise. It doesn't take long for a small archway to form in the wall. It's only big enough for Phil to crawl through and he hopes that it will lead him to the correct place. 

"Hello? Is Leona here?" He anxiously calls out after crawling through the small opening. This time the Room Of Requirement has these odd looking, black boxes with grey screens lining the walls, colourful bean bags on the ground, posters adorned with muggle rockstars and strange logos and one tall, dark armchair in front of the roaring fire. Sitting with her legs draped over one of the arms of the cushioned chair is the one and only Leona. She's mainly known for breaking rules to help her fellow students and is current project is to persuade Professor McGonagall to install wifi into the castle.

Her dyed hair rests on her shoulders and is close to falling into her warm, brown eyes. The girl's dark robes have been abandoned on the floor along with her school jumper. In Leona's right hand is a slim, shiny rectangle with a glowing screen. Being a pureblood, Phil has no idea what it is and is immediately intrigued. However, she'll have to explain what the little rectangle is another day because time is of the essence. 

"Oh, hello. Have you come here to use the wifi? The Room Of Requirement is actually the only place in Hogwarts where phones and computers work." Leona asks with her natural, English accent. She presses a button on her little rectangle and the screen becomes dark. Phil tilts his head to the side like a confused puppy. Wifi? Phones? Computers? What on earth are they? 

"Erm no, not today. I was wondering if you could do a favour for me. It might be quiet dangerous though..." He trails off shyly. Grinning, Leona stands up and stares up at the Hufflepuff.

"Dangerous? Ha, I doubt it," She chuckles. "Whatcha need, Philip?" The boy rubs the back of his neck and bites his lip. 

"I need you to sneak into the Forbidden Forest and set some of its creatures loose in the castle while he majority of the school is visiting Hogsmeade for the day." He requests, not realising how crazy that sounds. For a few moments, Leona is silent and Phil is worried she won't help him but she actually nods and pulls out her wand. 

"Accio calendar!" She announces and and a thick calendar titled '2016 Calendar Featuring Pictures Of My Chemical Romance' comes flying her way, nearly hitting Phil's head. In shock, he yelps and jumps away from the hovering object. Leona grabs it and pulls a piece of muggle stationery out from behind her ear. Thanks to his muggle studies, Phil is able to tell that it's a pencil. 

"The only day I have free in my schedule is the twenty fourth, is that okay? There's a trip to Hogsmeade planned then. I can spend tomorrow morning in the Forbidden Forest sussing out what creatures are the coolest and most frightening and smuggle them in here. I know the place quite well so it won't be too hard." She mumbles as she take notes. Graciously, Phil smiles at the Slytherin. 

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much! Tell you what, I'll place an order down at that pizza place in Hogsmeade for you. I'm pretty sure they send owls up to deliver pizza to Hogwarts students." He promises. Cheerfully, Leona grins back at him. 

"I was going to do it for free but now that you say that...I'll take the pizza!" She laughs. 

"I have to see Professor McGonagall about something important but thank you again. See you later!" Phil exclaims. The two wave at each other before he turns around and begins to crawl through the tight archway. 

"Wait!" Leona calls out suddenly. Phil doesn't turn around but stops in his tracks. 

"I know you're not the type of of guy to play pranks or get into trouble so why are you doing this?" She asks with confusion lacing her words. Usually she doesn't question the people who come to her for help but this case intrigues her. Phil smiles at the ground.

"I want to help someone I care about." Is all he replies with.


	9. Chapter 9

Nervously, Phil shoves another spoonful of 'Crunchy Nut' cereal into his mouth. Looking around the great hall, Leona is nowhere in sight. He reckons she's preparing for the first attack. 

Yesterday Phil met Leona in the Room Of Requirement again to discuss their plan in greater detail. The Slytherin girl had already persuaded a teenage centaur to jump through one of the great hall's stain glass windows, lured a group of freaky-looking bowtruckles into her wardrobe and spotted a few forest trolls in the Forbidden Forest. Leona also explained what mobile phones and computers are to the clueless pureblood Hufflepuff. He knows the main purpose for them but he doesn't understand why muggles desperately rely on them. 

As Phil continues to slowly eat his breakfast, Dan is busy preparing his own type of attack. In his mind he refers to it as the 'Friendship Attack'. He's actually been planning it since Phil left the owlery the other night. While playing with the raven haired's little lion, Dan realised how much Phil has done for him and all he's done is cry and complain. After his friend left, he spent an hour or two beating himself up for being so awful and ignorant. Then Dan had the brilliant idea to prepare a special day for Phil as a thank you for his kindness. 

Even though talking to strangers makes him extremely nervous and feel like an awkward fool, Dan spent the next day interviewing some of Phil's Hufflepuff friends. According to one girl who carries her beloved cat everywhere with her, he loves plants, flowers and stars. 

"When I was sorted into Hufflepuff I didn't have many friends so Phil talked to me. He was really nice and showed me all his cacti and houseplants in his dorm! He even let my cat, how at that point was a kitten, into his dorm. Oh, and he likes stars! I don't know how many times he's sneaked up to the astronomy tower and not seen again until breakfast." She told him with a loving smile as her cat meowed in her arms. Dan had to hide a laugh because he thought that the poor, scabby feline sounded like a creaky door. 

So after that, the ghost quickly flew up to the Ravenclaw tower and after many attempts, made it into the Common Room. All the students were confused as to why a ghost was in their hideaway but no one really cared. Dan looked around the large, circular room and eventually found who he was looking for. 

"Um, excuse me? Hi, I'm Dan Howell and I was wondering if you could may-" He started. Suddenly the first year girl with shiny, metal braces with long, chestnut brown hair interrupted him. 

"Dan Howell? Oh I know who yooooou are!" She giggled. She put down her long, wooden knitting needles and stared up at him. Dan wasn't surprised that Braces knew who he is, everyone knows about the only muggleborn Slytherin. 

"Oh, uh, okay. I've heard that you like to knit yourself sweaters sometimes and I-" Again, he was interrupted by Braces. 

"Sometimes? I'm always knitting sweaters! Glow in the dark sweaters, emo sweaters, birthday sweaters, sweaters for pigs..." She listed before losing her train of thought. "Wait, do you want a sweater?" Anxiously, Dan twiddles his thumbs. Braces' enthusiasm is quite overwhelming. 

"Well, not today, but I was wondering if you could knit a really big blanket by tomorrow for me. Like, one that could fit a six foot ghost and a six foot alive guy under it." Dan quietly requested. As soon as the word 'knit' left his mouth, Braces had picked up her thick knitting needles. Quickly, she waved one of them and a roll of thick, red wool came flying at her. 

"I use wands as needles." She explained before getting to work. "I'll have it to you by tomorrow." 

After gathering all the information he needed and finding Braces, Dan zoomed up to Headteacher McGonagall's office and asked if Phil could be allowed to out of bed after dark again the following night. He had to explain his plan to her but of course she understood and thought that he was very sweet. With a small smile, she wrote that Phil had permission to explore the castle and it's grounds in the night the next day onto a piece of parchment and passed it to Dan. Graciously, he thanked her and flew back up to the Astronomy Tower to rest. 

Back to the present day and Dan has woke up late. He was supposed to be up at half past nine for breakfast (on weekdays it's served at quarter past eight) but overslept until ten minutes to ten. Tiredly, the ghost rolls off the cold bench he's been starting to sleep on and spots a huge, red blanket dumped on the ground next to him. Attached to it is a glittery post it note with a smiley face drawn onto it. All Dan needs to do is place the huge, warm blanket under this lovely, big tree by the Black Lake he had previously selected, pick some nice flowers for Phil and then wait until sun down to take him to the tree. Simple!

The corners of Dan's cold lips begin to slowly raise at the thought of Phil but they immediately fall again. When he died the fire made the skin on his cheeks droop down and melt like wax. Now they fall over the edges of Dan's lips and whenever he starts to smile, the wax skin stops him and causes his entire face to hurt. The poor boy can no longer smile. 

Meanwhile, all Hogwarts' living children above third year, apart from Leona, Phil and a few other students, are leaving for Hogsmeade. Even a few teachers are going down for a butterbeer or two. It's perfect. 

Suddenly Phil spots Leona casually stroll into the Great Hall and she mischievously grins at him. She goes and sits down at the Ravenclaw table and greets two of her friends. The Hufflepuff continues to keep his ocean blue eyes on the tall, wooden doors to see when Dan floats in. 

After fifteen long minutes of waiting, the doors finally open and Dan enters the hall. He's struggling to hold the red blanket and a bouquet of soft pink and white Chrysanthemum flowers in his hands and Phil seriously wants to help him. However, he can't be seen by Dan so he hides his face with a copy of The Daily Prophet that someone left lying around. 

Silently, Dan flies down the centre aisle at a slow pace and keeps his eyes trained on the ground. Rapidly, Leona raises her two hands to her mouth and loudly whistles. 

Before all heads can turn to her, the window in the centre of the back wall smashes and a beautiful, mystical centaur lands on the cold ground. A Hufflepuff gasps, a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw yells, "Centaurs don't smash through windows! What's going on?" The teenage centaur's light brown hair hair flies in the wind and stands on her back legs with the front legs off the ground. Of course Leona assured that she wasn't actually violent and just persuaded her act that way. More people shrieked and some ran out the the Great Hall. Dan, however, stood still and started at the creature. 

Next a swarm of bowtruckles crawled out from under the tables. They aren't dangerous creatures but look quite creepy. Each bowtruckle is around five inches tall and looks like a little stickman (Dan personally likes to think of them as tiny Groots but with legs). They aren't taught about the magical little guys in Care Of Magical Creatures so not many people know that they're actually harmless. Bowtruckles live peacefully in certain forests and guards special trees which provide wand wood. They eat insects and don't make much contact with humans. 

"Ew!" A Slytherin yells before flicking one of their shaking hand. Around three people, including Dan, sigh while everyone else screams and cries in fear. Dan knows that the little guys are harmless and probably just want to get back to the forest. 

A few moments later and and only loud booms can be heard over the shrieks. Frowning, Dan turns around to face the doors and gasps when he sees three, tall forest trolls burst through them. Grunting, the sprint down the aisle and Dan drops the new blanket and lovely flowers while escaping to the left. The trolls' big, hairy feet trample the items until they're unrecognisable and Dan is left with his mouth hanging open in shock. Braces worked so hard on that blanket and he had spent so long picking the perfect flowers for Phil. 

"How dare you!" He yells unexpectedly. Dan's never raised his voice before, this was so new to him. Bravely, the ghost steps forward and places his hands on his hips. 

"That was incredibly rude! All of you! Breaking through Professor Filtwick's favourite window in the whole castle, scaring students and crushing my things! I'll have you know that I have been planning to use those things for days and now all my plans are ruined! Has Professor McGonagall even given you permission to be here? I don't think so. If I were you, I'd leave right away before she arrives and you are all banned from the castle grounds!" Dan furiously screams at the forest creatures. The centaur steps back in shock. 

"You are right, I suppose it was rather rude to come without warning everyone. I apologise." She says calmly before bowing. She stands up again and trots out of the hall. 

The bow truckles have already crawled out through the smashed window and are probably back in the forest by know. They're probably back in the Forbidden Forest by now. 

The three forest trolls have already made themselves at home and have sat down. Laughing drunkenly, they slap each other and playfully punch each other. Gritting his teeth, Dan floats towards them. 

"Out!" He shrieks, pointing to the broken window. The trolls are scared of his stern tone and jump through the wall. 

Slowly, Dan turns around and faces the students. 

"I'm sorry for raising my voice, I just got kind of annoyed." He mumbles, back to the shy boy everyone knows. 

Quickly, he exits the hall.


	10. Chapter 10

The minute Dan leaves the great hall, the students start yelling. You'd think they'd be shocked that a bunch of strange creatures just burst into Hogwarts but they're actually more amazed at timid Dan's outburst of anger. 

"I'd never heard him speak before that."

"That was so cool! This Howell kid was amazing! Shame he's dead, though."

"Am I the only one who's wondering why a centaur flew through the window?"

"I never knew Dan had that in him! Maybe he's not as innocent and shy as we thought." 

Leona is also quite shocked. By the look on Phil's face, she can easily figure out that he wanted the attack to help Dan in some way. Instead, the ghost became frustrated. 

Sighing, Phil stands and exits the hall. On the way out, he nods in Leona's direction as a quick thank you. Softly, she smiles at him. 

It takes Phil a while to trek all the way up to the Astronomy Tower. He knows that Dan likes to retire there after a long, stressful day. The boys may have only known each other for a few weeks but they're already so close. Phil cares about Dan, even if it's only in a friendly way. 

Like he predicted, the Slytherin boy is curled up on one of the Astronomy Tower's benches. He's shivering and his teeth are clattering together loudly. Phil can't help but to feel sorry for him. Silently, he pulls his wand out from one of his robe pockets and waves it slowly. A wreath of buttercup yellow flowers land next to Dan's feet. They catch the boy's attention and he looks down at them. He can only think of one person who'd be generous enough to magic him up some flowers. 

"Phil?" He asks shakily, looking up to the stairs. Sure enough, the tall boy is standing with one of his arms resting on the metal bannister. His raven black hair is slightly messy from rushing up all the winding staircases. Seriously, the castle has too many stairs. For the people who prefer to spend their summers curled up with a good book or playing video games, it's a real problem. 

Phil doesn't even bother to ask Dan if he's okay, he already knows the answer. Instead, he sits down next to him and allows the ghost to rest his head on his shoulder. 

"I shouldn't have yelled in front of all those people, I'm sorry. They probably think I'm crazy." Dan chuckles sadly. There's nothing Phil wants more to hug the poor boy at this moment. He really needs a hug. 

"Don't worry, it's natural to get angry every now and then," He begins, using a soothing voice. "I'm sorry if this a weird question but is there any reason you'd yell at the forest creatures? Do you fear them?" Phil feels awful to try and get information out of him at this moment but they're already on the subject. 

"No, it's because the trolls trampled on my things. I actually used to be really interested in magical creatures. Care Of Magical Creatures was one of my favourite subjects." Dan replies, sniffling a bit. He's been crying again, Phil suspects. 

Phil feels so sorry for the ghost. What has gotten into him? How did he think using creatures as dangerous as trolls to get information out of Dan was a good idea? He needs to make it up to him... 

"Hey, do you want to go on a broomstick ride? Y'know, to take your mind of things." Phil suggests softly. Viewing the castle from above is quite amazing and maybe the beautiful scenery will make Dan feel better. 

Dan is about to agree when he remembers something from the night he died. 

Groaning, he pushes the heavy door open and scans the room in search for a broom. In the hurry, Dan forgets to close the door and Threadnig finds him rummaging through one boy's trunk for a broomstick. Smiling smugly, he closes the door with a bang and watches as Dan flinches and slowly looks up. Pointed at him is Threadnig's wand. 

Dan clearly remembers his struggle to find a broomstick to flee on. While he was burning, he could see a brand new broomstick handle poking out from one of the boy's trunks. If only he had reached it in time... 

"N-no, I'd rather n-not." He stutters anxiously. The flashbacks from that fateful night are making him feel sick. Phil, however, can't see this. 

"Oh, okay then. What else can we do then?" He ponders before clicking his fingers together. " I know, patronus casting! You can still cast spells, right?" 

"Expecto patronum." Dan quietly whispers. A great, tall grizzly bear is whooshed out of the tip of his dark wand and bounds higher than all the other patronuses. At that exact moment, Thomas Threadnig casts his own patronus and scowls in embarrassment. His measly dog was nothing compared to Dan's grand, silver protecter. When Dan sees the look is his green eyes, he knows he is in for it. 

Dan couldn't bare to see his patronus again, it was the whole reason he was dead. If he hadn't cast that spell Threading wouldn't have gotten angry and killed him. 

"N-no th-thank you." Dan mumbles, becoming dizzy. At this point, Phil catches on and frowns. 

"Woah, are you feeling okay. I know ghosts are usually pale but you're as white as a sheet! Are you cold, Dan? How about we go inside and settle down by a nice, warm fire." Phil smiles, not knowing how his words are affecting his friend. 

At that moment, Dan's eyes roll to the back of his head and he collapses onto the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

Before Dan collapsed, Phil felt awful. 

Now he feels terrible. 

"It's all my fault, professor. I must have done something to upset him. Oh gosh, I've killed him, haven't I?" He panics while rocking back and forth on one of the plastic chairs in the hospital wing. 

"You're a brilliant student, son, but I doubt you've managed to kill a ghost. Madam Pomfrey and some special Ministry Wizards who specialise in ghosts are doing everything they can to get Mr Howell back onto his feet." The professor calmly assures him. 

After Dan collapsed, Phil immediately called for help. With great difficulty, he, two other sixth years and Madam Pomfrey managed to slide him onto a stretcher (every time they tried to lift him, their hands went straight through him). The determined team hauled him down to the hospital wing and slid him onto a bed. Immediately, the doctor pulled a white curtain around the bed and the it hasn't been pulled back in two days. That whole time, Phil hasn't moved from his chair. Kindly, his Ravenclaw friend Ellie has brought all his schoolwork and meals up to him. She's a lovely friend. 

"If anything, this event has been a good thing. It has given us lots of help in figuring out how Daniel died." McGonagall says calmly. Confused, Phil looks up from his History homework and stares at her. 

"No offence but what are talking about? Dan is not okay and you're saying this is a good thing? Professor, I don't see how this will help us." Phil replies, slightly shocked at what she said. 

"Well," The woman crosses her legs, "I've heard lots of things about ghosts and the afterlife while teaching here. Some people say that if a ghost is scared of the thing that killed them, they'll react badly at the mention of it. For example, if Daniel drowned and you suddenly started talking about swimming, he'd freak out. So, what where you talking about when Daniel started to look off?" For a few moments, Phil thinks back. His conversation with Dan is a little blurry but he can remember a few things. 

"Well, he was sad so I offered to take him on a broom ride around the school grounds. He started stuttering right after that." He recalls quietly. McGonagall nods and urges him to go on. 

"After that, I remember saying something about patronuses and that's when I really noticed that he wasn't looking too good. Dan got kind of pale," He continues. " I don't see how a patronus could hurt him, though." 

"And then I think I suggested we go inside and...I think I said something about a fire but I can't remember entirely." Phil sighs with his head in his hands. Slowly, McGonagall leans back in her seat and taps her chin with one, long finger. 

"Broomstick, patronus, fire...broomstick, patronus,fire. I don't see how any of them link up," She says sadly. "Was Daniel a quidditch player?" Phil finds himself laughing at her question. 

"Oh gosh no, he hates sports! He always complains about them, it's actually quite funny." He chuckles lovingly. Phil smiles as he remembers the day he and Dan watched the first quidditch match of the year together. The ghost complained and groaned through the whole match but Phil found it hilarious. He doesn't likes sports much either but watching quidditch makes him feel excited and cheerful. 

"We can rule out patronus- there's no way a patronus hurt him unless he's secretly a dementor. What about fire?" The headteacher asks him. For a few moments, Phil is silent as he thinks. 

"Actually, Dan doesn't like the torches around the school at all. I have to blow out to flames for him and he didn't go near the fireplace that time I took him up to my common room. I figured that maybe it was just a normal fear he's always had but maybe it could be something important." He exclaims excitedly. McGonagall's head perks up and she stares at the boy. 

"I think we're onto something, Philip." She says. 

Later on that afternoon, Dan's eyes finally open. His whole body feels sore and his eyelids are heavy. 

"Hey, I think he's waking up!" A ruff, unfamiliar voice calls out. Dan hears curtains being drawn back and then one of his favourite things in the world. 

"Dan, can you hear me? Are you alright? Oh gosh, I thought I'd killed you! I'm so sorry!" Phil exclaims before he throws his body onto the ground and kneels by Dan's bed. Slowly, the ghost opens his dull eyes. 

"I'm already dead, you spork." He chuckles quietly. Phil lets out a cry of relief and rests his head on his folded arms. 

"Hey, don't do that again, okay? You scared me half to death. Seriously, I haven't slept in ages." He admits with a dry laugh. Just as Dan's about to speak, McGonagall steps forward. 

"Mr Howell, how are you feeling?" She asks worriedly. Dan sits up in the hospital bed and smiles at them. 

"A little sore but okay." He informs her. 

"Good. I need to talk to you in private. Philip, I suggest you head up to your dorm and get some much needed rest." She says. Slowly, Phil stands up and smiles down at Dan. 

"I'll see you later, Dan. I'll probably be down in a few hours to talk to you." He softly says before leaving the hospital wing. 

Quickly, Professor McGonagal sits down on the edge of the bed and turns to face the ghost. 

"Now, mr Howell, we have a lot to talk about."


	12. Chapter 12

Surprisingly, Dan leaves the hospital wing on the day he wakes up. Claiming he was 'fit as a fiddle', he floats out and into the busy corridor with a smile. 

Naturally, all the students curiously stare up at the ghost. The story of him yelling at the magical forest creatures had spread across the school like wildfire over the last couple of days. The tiny first years smile up at him in admiration and for the first time, Dan feels special. No one's ever looked at him like that.

"Dan? Why are you out of the hospital wing already? You literally just woke up from a mini coma a few hours ago." Phil asks anxiously. Dan attempts a smile but he can't lift his lips too well because of his ruined face.

"I'm feeling better. I guess ghosts aren't affected by things as easily as living people are." Dan mumbles while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. It feels weird with all those eyes on him now. Phil must be able to read his mind because he comes to the rescue. 

"Nope, I am not letting you leave the hospital ward when you're not fully recovered. Let's go up to my dorm and rest. You still look kind of tired." He says with a pale hand on his hip. Dan doesn't protest and floats over to his friend. Slowly, he places his hand of his shoulder and ghost apparates to the older boy's dorm. 

When they get up there, Phil doubles over and shakes his head. 

"Oh my gosh, never do that again. I feel like death." He shivers. Biting his lip, Dan sits down on Phil's bed and folds his long legs into a basket. 

"Sorry, I probably should have warned you I was going to do that. You're right, though, it feels horrible at first but you get used to it." He mumbles quietly. After Phil recovers, he sits down next to Dan and they stare at each other in silence. It wasn't the creepy staring, it was more like they're just taking in each other's beauty for the first time.

Phil didn't realise just how amazing Dan's eyes are until now. They're a stormy grey with little specks of gold bursting out from the iris. It looks slightly odd but Phil thinks it's unique. Obviously the grey isn't his natural eye colour but the gold was definitely there before his untimely death. The shining orbs are so mesmerising and gorgeous. Phil could stare at them for hours and hours on end. 

"Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are really mesmerising to look at?" Phil whispers . Bashfully, Dan blushes a pretty shade of pink and shakes his head. 

"The grey appeared after I died, they weren't always like that. My eyes used to be brown. Boring brown." He mumbles the last sentence. Dan hates his old eyes and thinks that they look like poo. However, Phil loves brown eyes.

"I'm sure they were beautiful. All eyes are interesting, Dan. Some people just can't see that." He replies defensively. Ever since he was little, he's ben fascinated by eyes. They're so strange but amazing to look at. 

"You're weird, Philip." Dan laughs, making Phil groan. 

"Ugh, don't call me Philip. Only teachers do that." He murmurs as he shuffles up to rest his back on the bed's strong headboard. Dan imitates his actions. 

"Is it strange that I miss school? I miss being alive as well." He sighs with a sad expression on his face. Phil lifts his hand to pat Dan's shoulder reassuringly but then drops it. 

"No, I quite like school actually. I can't imagine what it feels like to not have to worry about getting homework done on time or to not have to revise all weekend." He answers softly. "Don't worry, Dan. Things might not be the best right now but it'll get better. I promise." 

"Thanks, Phil. That makes me feel better." The ghost whispers.


	13. Chapter 13

Phil doesn't know that Dan could look so peaceful until he suddenly falls asleep that afternoon. They were chatting about dragons (a topic Dan thought would really drag on) and butterbeer when his eyes began to feel heavy and he curled up into the older boy's side. Phil didn't even realise and continued to excitedly go on about a new portrait up in Gryffindor Tower until he heard small snores.

He badly wanted to stay put on the bed and maybe even allow Dan to rest his head on his shoulder but he knew that this was the perfect opportunity to plan another 'attack'. Although, this time I'd have to be a lot less scary and quick. After all, Dan had just gotten out of the hospital wing and was quite tired. Slowly, Phil sat up and noticed how Dan frowned in his sleep and his hands moved around the mattress to find the arm he had unknowingly been holding. He looked around the room for one of his dorm mates brooms and eventually spotted Ernie Hopkin's brand new broomstick peeking out from one of the brightly coloured curtains. Being the lazy person he is, Phil pulled his wand out from his robe's pocket and mumbled the incantation under his breath. The broomstick came whizzing towards him and almost hit his head. Luckily, the Hufflepuff has good reflexes.

Once again, he raises his wand and casts a charm that will let the broom freely fly around the room. Hopefully it won't go completely mental and knock over any of Phil's plant pots or crash through any windows. If Dan died in a freak broom accident, he'll freak out like he does every time something triggers him, the potion can be brewed and Dan will be mortal again! Sounds easy enough.

Now all Phil needs to do is wait for his ghost friend to wake up. He doesn't know that Dan's a heavy sleeper. So while the time passes, Phil takes his wand out again and practices casting patronuses. He's never been the best at casting them but practice makes perfect.

After a long fifteen minute practice, Dan turns over onto his side and grumbles something under his breath.

"Huh, what did you say?" Phil asks quietly. Dan turns around to face him and he doesn't look pleased. His dark, fuzzy eyebrows are furrowed and he still looks tired.

"Why is there a broomstick whizzing around your dorm? It's only three in the afternoon." The ghost mutters, slightly annoyed by the 'whooshing' noise the broomstick made every time it turned a corner.

To be honest, Dan wasn't to bothered by broomsticks. Seeing one was nothing compared to seeing a roaring fire. He shakes his head at the thought of it.

"Sorry, uh, my friend was practising some charms while you were asleep." Phil lies. He's had to lie so much to Dan and it makes him feel sick. However, this time Dan knows that he's not telling the truth. When they were talking earlier on, all four of Phil's dorm mates came up, announced that they'd be at the duelling club until dinner and left.

Dan is hurt. If there was one thing he valued in a relationship (romantic or not) it was honesty...even though he has some secrets of his own.

"Oh, okay then. I'm just gonna go now." He says with a frown before completely disappearing without a trace.

Quietly, Phil curses under his breath.

"Oh Merlin, Dan knows that I'm lying. He's going to be so annoyed. What if he doesn't trust me anymore? What if he hates me?" He asks himself after harshly face palming.

The potion needs to be made soon, that's for certain. It sounds like Dan's loosing his patience and Phil would hate for him to be sad.

 

Later on that night, during dinner, Phil leaves the Hufflepuff table and jogs up to Professor McGonagall. Tonight she looks unusually grim and serious, which is odd.

"Professor, I was wondering if I could pop up to your office and-" He begins.

"Not now, Philip. I haven't had the best day." She interrupts him. Annoyed, Phil frowns slightly.

"But I really need to. I think we're running out of time to help Dan, he's becoming impatient." He presses her.

"I said no! Five points from Hufflepuff!" McGonagall snaps before waving her hand dismissively. With his mouth wide open in shock, Phil stumbles down to his table and plonks down onto the bench.


	14. Chapter 14

"Can you believe this? McGonagall is being so unfair! She wont allow me to talk to Snape, even though it's for Dan's health and happiness!" Phil rants to Leona. The two of them decided to meet in The Room Of Requirement (Phil wanted to skip Transfiguration as a protest against his headmistress) and are now lounging around on the comfy sofas.

"It's not like her. Usually she's quite friendly. Strict, but friendly," The Slytherin girl contributes before taking a bite of a bright red apple. "Maybe you should try again...or sneak into her office." She gives Phil a sly grin before rolling over onto her back and looking up at the dark ceiling. 

"I can't do that, I'd be expelled!" The raven haired gasps. Leona laughs merrily.

"It was just a suggestion, don't worry. Although, I wonder what things you'd find if you did sneak in there. Maybe I'll do it in my spare time. I'm busy with favors at the moment." She says. It's true, many young wizards and witches have been asking her for favors. A lot of people are begging her to install wifi that the castle won't repel against and others want her to be their wingwoman. Some of her friends get worried about all the things she needs to do but Leona doesn't mind. She's kind like that. 

"I hope Dan's okay, I haven't saw him in a while and he looked pretty mad when I lied to him." Phil mumbles. He sits up on the couch and sits his chin on his knees. 

"Anyone would be mad if you lied to them, though. He's probably just sitting up in the owlery again- didn't you say he likes it up there?" Leona comforts him softly. Over the past few days, Phil opened up to her about the plan to make Dan mortal again. At first, she was unsure and claimed that it was impossible to bring back the dead. But Dan isn't completely dead. He's a ghost so there's a tiny bit of his soul still with him. The Slytherin was amazed to find that several authors have written about the potion and interviewed the few it worked on.

"I just really want to have the potion brewed as soon as possible. Professor Sprout gives me updates on how they're doing with gathering the ingredients but they still need a few more things. And, of course, the most important thing that must be added is a bit of something that killed Dan-" Phil is cut off.

"And Dan won't tell you how he died so you're trying to figure out what killed him. Honestly, Philip! You've told me this a million times, I'm actually starting to think you're a bit obsessed with the boy." Leona says with a smirk. Phil's pale cheeks becomes flushed and pink so he hides his face in his hands. 

"I don't like him like that, I just want the best for him and stuff. Dan deserves to be alive and achieve things. And maybe," He stressed the word 'maybe', " it would be nice to be able to hug him once in a while." Squealing like a fangirl, Leona grins and claps her hands together. 

"Oh my gosh, you guys need to date! Aw, Dan and Phil! Who'll take who's surname when you get married? Can I be a bridesmaid? I can really see you guys living in a beach house with a Shiba Inu!" She cheerfully gushes, making Phil even more embarrassed.

"L-Leona, stop! Dan's my best friend, nothing more!"He protests. His friend chuckles and rolls her pretty, brown eyes.

"Yeah right."

 

Meanwhile, Dan is up in the owlery (just as Leona thought). He's not doing much, just staring at the wide range of birds and thinking of Phil. 

He was hurt. Phil had lied to him. Dan doesn't like lying.

Suddenly, a black and white owl with usually spiky feathers lands on the ledge of a window. The poor fella looks a bit dizzy. 

"Hey, you okay?" Dan asks him as he slowly hops towards him. The owl has a rolled up piece of parchment clasped in his beak. Spiky drops the letter on the bench and looks up at the ghost with his large, oak coloured eyes. 

"Is this for me?" Dan asks surprisedly. Cheerfully, chirps three times. He supposes that means yes so he carefully unrolls the letter.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I know you already said no but I seriously need to talk to Snape. I need to hear firsthand how the brewing of the potion is coming along. Dan's becoming impatient with me and it's worrying. 

If I'm allowed, could I come up to your office tomorrow morning? My two blocks before break are free ones so I have time. I promise not to do anything irresponsible while I'm there (even though we both know I wouldn't ever do anything irresponsible ever).

Yours sincerely,

Phil Lester

Dan frowns. He's confused. Why would Phil need to talk to Snape or brew a potion. And why does he have something to do with it? Dan hopes it isn't too serious but is still suspicious.

Little Spiky must realise that he's delivered the letter to the wrong person because he swoops forwards and snatches the parchment using his grey beak. With three more chirps, he flies away. 

Both Dan and Phil are feeling stressed. Little do they know, something is happening in the castle. Something bad.


	15. Chapter 15

Hogwarts is currently buzzing. Friends are hugging goodbye, professors are packing up their teaching supplies and Hagrid is already rounding up some kids. It's almost Christmas so lots of people, teachers included, are going home. 

Everyone is saying their goodbyes in the courtyard.

"Write to me, okay?" A dark haired Ravenclaw, Ellie, makes Leona promise. The Slytherin girl places a hand over her heart and smiles.

"Of course." She says just as Dan swoops past her. The ghost stops to stare at her for a moment before speaking up. 

"Erm, hello. Do you happen to know where Phil is?" He asks politely while twiddling his thumbs nervously. Dan's been thinking about his friends and thinks he should probably apologise for storming off incase he's leaving for Christmas.

"Oh yeah, he should be in one of the halls. Filch's making him give directions to the first years. Philip's had rotten luck recently." Leona says with a pitiful look in her eyes. Quickly, Dan thanks her for her time before rushing back into the castle.

Since the days are becoming darker, there are more and more candles in Hogwarts. It took Dan a great deal of courage to just leave the owler, never mind go all the way down the courtyard. He was shaking the whole time. 

The corridors are absolutely jam-packed. It looks like lots of people are going home for the holidays this year. Since he's super tall, it's easy as pie to spot Phil. He looks quite distressed and tired. 

"Jemma, you're going the wrong way, the bathrooms are to your left. Try not to fall down the stairs as you're exiting, they're quite icy." He announces to all the younger pupils. Sighing, Phil runs a pale hand through his coal coloured hair and looks up at the clock. Only half an hour more of this. 

Anxiously, Dan takes a deep breath and slowly floats over to the Hufflepuff boy. He's spotted immediately and is offered a friendly smile. 

"Hey Dan, how are you?" Phil chirps kindly. Dan looks up at him and shrugs. 

"Okay, I guess. Listen, I'm sorry how I suddenly stormed out the other day. I don't know what happened, I just got kind of upset about something." He apologises sincerely. Phil's heart breaks into a million pieces- Dan looks generally upset and guilty about what he had done.

"Oh no, don't apologise! I should be the one saying sorry, I lied to you." He exclaims. 

Dan's about to speak again but Phil's extraordinarily blue eyes widen and he gasps. 

"I thought I told you to be careful on the stairs!" He yells before lunging past Dan. 

The ghost spins around and sees a long, lit torch falling to the ground. His breath hitches as the burgundy curtains is set aflame. Several people scream and dash away while others pull out their wands. The roaring flames spread down the corridor and closer to Dan.

He's paralysed in fear. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion to him. Poor Dan begins to shake uncontrollably and a transparent hand goes up to cover his open mouth. He sees Phil dash towards him but the flame beats him to it. Just before he's engulfed by the colossal fire, he teleports away. 

Dan has no idea where he's heading but winds up in some random corridor. His breathing heavy, he falls against a wall and runs his shaking hands through his hair. A few white strands fall out and he stares at them in shock. He had gotten so close to the fire that they looked a bit burned. 

Tears rush down his cheeks as he curls up into a tight ball ball. Dan thinks he's stupid and oh so weak. Running away from his fears is something Dan's always hated but never had any control over. 

In his head he tells himself that he's weak over and over again. The fire was so, so scary, though. It brought back every awful memory kept in Dan's mind as it swiftly travelled down the hall. Even at the thought of it, the ghost finds himself sobbing even louder and clutches his head between his hands. 

Suddenly Dan hears something. It's faint and distance but it's something. Slowly, he looks up and through his blurry vision, he can make out a tall frame and pale skin. 

"Dan...hear...safe...hospital......mortal." Are the only words the Slytherin is able to make out through the sound of his own sobs. 

On the other line, Phil is absolutely horrified at what he's witnessing. Dan looks so hopeless and...dead. The poor boy's shaking and sobbing.

"Fire, huh?" He thinks to himself just before Dan reaches out for his hand. The Hufflepuff can barely see it but he can definitely feel something soft against his hand. 

"It's okay, Dan, helps coming. I promise you'll be okay. You'll be happy again." Phil promises, his own voice breaking. Slowly, he kneels down by Dan and stares into his clouded eyes. 

He really wishes he could hug Dan right now. 

"Mr Lester? Mr Les- oh my goodness." Someone gasps. Phil looks to his left and sees Madam Pomfery standing with a hand over her heart. Standing behind her is a wide eyed Professor McGonagall. 

"At least this didn't happen any sooner, the potion is almost ready. All that's needed is-" 

"Fire," Phil cuts her off as she kneels down next to the two boys, "All that's needed is fire."

 

The silver elixir is is bubbling and boiling by the hospital bed Dan's lying on. The terrified boy quickly fell asleep after calming down a bit more. He's still pretty shaken up and Phil feels so guilty. 

"Incendio." McGonagall murmurs, her wand pointing into the glass. A tiny flame falls into the potion and turns it an odd shade of yellow. 

"Uh, how are we supposed to get Dan to swallow it? He's tried drinking hot chocolate before and it literally went straight through him." Phil suddenly realises. Madam Pomfery clears her throat.

"One of the ingredients in this potion makes it able to be consumed by ghosts and things of the like." She explains. Phil nods his head and stares at his sleeping friend. There are still tear stains on his cheeks.

"Well, are you ready?" McGonagall asks the Hufflepuff with a soft smile.

He nods.


	16. Chapter 16

"Well, are you ready?" McGonagall asks the Hufflepuff with a soft smile.

He nods.

With steady hands, Madam Pomfrey reaches over to the mysterious potion and takes it off its stand. The matron takes a deep breath before leaning towards Dan and pouring a drop own his throat. The yellowish liquid glimmers in the sunlight as it drips down his throat. It slithers through his body and stays only in the bits where his veins would be. 

Suddenly a blinding, white light begins to radiate off Dan's body and Phil has to cover his eyes. He hears one of the two woman gasp and then a joyful squeak.

When Phil removes his hands from his eyes, he almost cries. Sitting on the hospital bed is his Dan. But a different Dan.

Instead of his usual white hair, this Dan's hair is chestnut brown. It looks fluffy and soft. 

Instead of his eyes being a sad grey, this Dan's eyes are a lively, bright brown with little specks of gold. They're mesmerising.

Instead of blue, almost transparent skin, this Dan has warm, sunkissed skin. Phil can't help but to think of how smooth it looks. 

This Dan still has the pieces of wax that hold his lips down into a frown. Slowly, he brings his shaking hands up to his cheeks and swiftly rips them off. Dan winces loudly but throws the wax onto the ground. 

Then he looks up at Phil. His eyes look so full of joy and hope. A few tears escape Phil's own eyes. Finally, Dan looks happy. 

Slowly, the younger boy stands up and walks towards him with a slight wobble. When they're only a nose away, Phil reaches out for Dan's hand. And, oh my goodness, he can feel it! He can feel him! 

The two boys grin at each other before Phil envelopes Dan in a huge hug. Dan ducks his head into the Hufflepuff's shoulder as they laugh with joy and the latter even kisses his nose quickly. 

Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall decide to give them some privacy and leave but the two boys don't even notice, they're so caught up in each other. 

"Your eyes...they're gorgeous." Phil whispers when they fall into a comfortable silence. Blushing, Dan giggles and hides his head in the other boy's shoulder. Phil didn't even mean it in a romantic way but the compliment makes him feel over the moon. 

"I can't believe I'm mortal again, this is amazing. I can't thank you enough." Dan chuckles joyfully and tightens his grip on Phil's waist. 

"This wouldn't have happened without the help of a lot of other people. We can thank them another day, I just really want to hug you for a million years" Phil shyly confesses. 

"Honestly same," The Slytherin replies, "Can we head back to your dorm and cuddle?" 

The raven haired boy smiles, nods and takes Dan's hand. 

They smile at each other and suddenly it feels like everything's okay. 

Dan and Phil are happy. They're so, so happy.


End file.
